Service visual indicator and movable currency drawer

ABSTRACT

A wall-mountable delivery service aid is provided. It includes a mounting member. Means are provided on the mounting member visually to indicate on one side thereof required goods and/or services, such as dairy products, dry-cleaning, laundry or the like. Means are also provided in the mounting member, operable from a side opposite to that of the visual indicator, to adjust the visual indicator to indicate the goods and/or services required. Finally, a currency storage and transfer device is provided which is slidably mounted on the mounting member. This device includes a currency storage compartment movably mounted selectively to position the same for access to the compartment from one side or the other of the mounting member. By these means currency may be placed in the compartment from one side of the wall on which the apparatus is mounted and may be removed from the opposite side of the wall.

Bergeron 1 June 27, 1972 SERVICE VISUAL INDICATOR AND MOVABLE CURRENCY DRAWER Primary Examiner-Lawrence Charles Attorney-Roylance, Abrams, Kruger, Berdo & Kaul [72] Inventor: Gaetan G. Bergeron, P.O. Box 1324, As-

siniboia, Canada [22] Filed: July 29, 1970 ABSTRACT [21] Appl. No.: 58,861 A wall-mountable delivery service aid is provided. It includes a mounting member. Means are provided on the mounting member visually to indicate on one side thereof required [30] Foreign Application Priority Dam goods and/or services, such as dairy products, dry-cleaning, March 13, 1970 Canada ..077,402 laundry or the like- Means are also Provided in h mounting member, operable from a side opposite to that of the visual in- [52] U.S.CI. ..40/70 dicator, to adjust the visual indicator to indicate the goods [51] Int'. Cl. ..G09| 11/23 and/or services required. Finally, a currency storage and [58] Field of Search ..40/5, 28, 70; 232/43.l 43.2, transfer device is provided which is slidably mounted on the 3 -5 mounting member. This device includes a currency storage compartment movably mounted selectively to position the References Cited same for access to the compartment from one side or the other of the mounting member. By these means currency may be UNITED STATES PATENTS placed in the compartment from one side of the wall on which 556,525 3/1896 Arenas ..40/70 R the apparatus is mounted and may be removed from the op- 2,062,639 12/1936 Cartwright.. .....232/43.4 posite side of the wall. 2,648,300 8/1953 Beedle ..232/43.4 2,029,209 1/1936 Zak ..40/70 R 6 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures 435,808 9/1890 Ellicott et al ..40/70 R P'A'TENTEDJum I972 sum 10? 4 WHE I l I l l INVENTOR Elk TAN 6. fifffifeoN ATTORNEYS man-12mm 3.672.081 sum ear 4 I a Q /5 5/ Z? 23 H -WAXJ INVENTOR GAETAN' 6. 8536520111 WW2; {w-

ATTORNEY$ SERVICE VISUAL INDICATOR AND MOVABLE CURRENCY DRAWER This invention relates to an apparatus for mounn'ng on a wall of a residence to serve as a visual indicator and currency storage for door-to-door services to the residence, such as milk, egg and bread deliveries.

There are known wall-mounting devices having indicators movable relative to notations visually to indicate quantities of items required, for example, diary products as exemplified by Canadian Pat. Nos. 62,903 issued Mar. 22, 1899 and 254,233 issued Sept. 29, 1925.

Door-to-door services are normally paid for immediately upon delivery and the patented structures fail to include the further feature of holding currency which may be collected by the delivery man upon delivery of the goods.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved visual indicator in combination with a currency retaining and transfer device.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a wall-mountable delivery service apparatus comprising, in combination, (a) a pair of concentrically disposed sleeves rotatably mounted in a mounting plate providing means visually to indicate required goods and/or services, such as dairy products, dry-cleaning, laundry or the like and selectively movable to variously indicate items and quantities required and (b) a currency storage and transfer device including a currency storage compartment slidably mounted in the innermost one of the concentric sleeves selectively to position the currency storage compartment on one side of said device or the other whereby currency may be placed in the compartment from one side of the wall on which said apparatus is mounted and removed therefrom on the opposite side of said wall.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a wall-mountable delivery service apparatus and currency transfer combination constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along section Il-ll of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 with the outer cover removed and taken substantially along line IIIIII of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a vertical elevational view taken substantially along line IV-IV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the movable currency drawer;

FIG. 6 is an end elevational view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view illustrating modifications to the currency drawer;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 illustrating a still further modified version of the slide for the cash drawer; and

FIG. 9 is a partial detailed view of a portion of the cash drawer lock illustrating the operation of the same.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, illustrated in FIG. 1 is an apparatus 10 adapted to be mounted on a wall, door or the like 14, to facilitate delivery servicemen and persons requiring their service by visually indicating items required, quantity of such items required and provide an area for storing currency which may be readily deposited by the person paying and collected by the person providing the service. The apparatus basically consists of means visually indicating the required goods and/or services, such as diary products,'drycleaning, laundry or the like, with means to variously position the indicator and a currency storage transfer device, the latter being in the form of a drawer which is slidably mounted. The visual indicator apparatus is designated generally by the reference numeral 20 and the currency drawer by the reference 50.

The apparatus includes a base-mounting plate 11 having apertures 12 to receive screws 13 for fastening the apparatus to the wall 14. A sleeve member 15 is secured to the mounting plate 11 and projects through an aperture in the wall 14.

Secured to the opposite end of the sleeve 15 is a retaining plate 16 which bears against the inside face of the wall 14 while the mounting plate 11 bears against the outside face of such wall. The wall 14 may be a house trailer wall, a residence wall or a door in the same.

The visual indicator 20 includes a pair of concentrically disposed sleeves 23 and 24 rotatable with respect to one another and rotatably mounted in the sleeve 15. Discs 25 and 26 each having indicia thereon for visually indicating various items required are secured respectively to opposed ends of the sleeve 23 and corresponding discs 27 and 28 (but of smaller diameter) are secured respectively to opposed ends of the sleeve 24. Discs 25 and 26 have correspondingly oriented indicia on the face thereof disposed in peripherally spaced relation as will be seen from FIGS. 3 and 4. The discs are divided into as many segmental sections as there are items, discs 25 and 26 each being divided into five sections designated respectively cream, whipcream, choc-cola, butter and a blank space. The indicia appears on the disc in the space located radially outwardly of the corresponding overlying discs 27 and 28 which are of smaller diameter.

Rotation of the discs 26 and 28 from the inside of the building effects corresponding rotation of the respective discs 25 and 27 outside of the building visually to indicate to the serviceman the item and quantities required. In this regard, it will be noted from FIGS. 3 and 4 respective disc 27 and 28 have correspondingly oriented numerals l to 4 in respective ones of four different segmental locations on the disc with the fifth space left blank for when nothing is required.

Discs 25 and 27 are located behind a cover plate 17 secured to the mounting plate 11 by, for example, screws 18 and a spacer element 19 is interposed between the respective members 11 and 17 holding the same in spaced relationship for receiving the disc 25 and 27. The cover plate 17 is removably mounted by the screws 18, facilitating changing discs 25 and 27 and substituting other discs therefor if desired. The cover plate 17 has a central aperture 30 for receiving the slidably mounted currency drawer 50 and segmental apertures 31 and 32 exposing the indicia, in a single segment, applied to the respective rotatable discs 25 and 27.

The front face of the cover plate 17 includes an indication of further goods or services required as, for example, the diagrammatic illustration of a bread truck 33 having a removable card 34 associated therewith visually to indicate by writing or other markings on the face the item required. The card 34 is retained in a pocket 35 provided by an inwardly turned lip member 36 surrounding three peripheral marginal edges of the card, i.e. the bottom and two vertical side edges.

The currency storage and transfer device 50 consists of a drawer slidably mounted within the sleeve 24 and includes a compartment 51 for retaining currency such as silver and/or paper money. The device 50 includes opposed end walls 52 and 53 and a side wall 54 having an aperture providing access to the compartment 51. The side wall 54 corresponds, in cross-sectional outline shape, to that of the inner surface of sleeve 24 and is slidably mounted therein from left to right and vice-versa as viewed in FIG. 2. The drawer may be prevented fromv being removed by various means, one of which is illustrated in FIG. 2 consisting of a pair of collar members 55 and 56 slidably mounted on an undercut portion 57 of the side wall 54 and each having a lug 58 projecting into an elongated recess in the inner surface of sleeve 24 and extending longitudinally therealong. The compression coil spring 59 is interposed between the pair of collars 55 and 56 returning the cash drawer to a normal central position after having been forcibly moved to one side or the other as the case may be.

In an alternative embodiment, the sleeves 55 and 56 may be replaced by a key located in longitudinally extending recesses in the adjacent faces of respective cash drawer wall 54 and sleeve 24. Such an arrangement permits sliding the drawer a greater extent in each of opposite directions through the sleeve 24.

In a still further alternative embodiment, the cash drawer 50 may be provided in the outer end wall 52 with a key-controlled lock preventing movement of the drawer except by persons in possession of the key.

Each of the latter embodiments are diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 7 wherein there is illustrated a slidable cash drawer 100 having a lock 101 secured thereto adjacent one end and which includes a movable lock member 102 controlled by a key. Sliding movement of the cash drawer 100 is limited by a stop 105 slidably located in recesses 106 and 107 respectively in the surfaces of adjacent faces of the sleeve 24 and drawer 100. It will be obvious the stop 105, and grooves 106, 107 associated therewith, are at some peripheral location, around the slidable cash drawer, offset from the opening into the compartment of the cash drawer.

The slide drawer 100, illustrated in FIG. 8, has a longitudinal groove 106 in the bottom thereof as is the case with the slide drawer illustrated in FIG. 7 but the assembly differs from the FIG. 7 embodiment by utilizing a stop 105A which is rigidly fixed to the inner surface of cylinder 24. The cash drawer 100, in each of FIGS. 7 and 8, is illustrated upside down from the normal use, the longitudinal groove 106 thus being illustrated in the bottom wall of the drawer. As indicated, however, the recess 106 may be located at any peripheral location offset from the opening into the cash drawer compartment which receives money for transfer in use.

The cash drawer 100 may be locked by a key-controlled lock 101 and, in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, the lock 101 is located such that the key 101A could be inserted from the outside wall on which the assembly is mounted. To facilitate the householder in inserting money into the locked cash drawer, there is provided a shaft 110 extending through a bore 111 in a wall of the cash drawer and terminates at one end in a finger-grip knob 112, and at the other end in a tapered head 113. The hand-grip knob 112 is located interiorly of the building wall on which the assembly is mounted and the tapered head 113 passes through an elongated slot in the locking pawl 102 of the lock 101. The tapered end 113 is tapered in one direction only, such direction being downwardly with reference to the orientation of parts in FIG. 8 so as to provide a downwardly inclined surface 114 slidably engageable with an edge of an aperture in the locking pawl. The upper edge of the tapered head 116 is substantially straight and slidably mounted to bear against the wall of the cash drawer such that upon movement of the knob 112 by pulling on the same to the right, there is effected a downward movement of the locking pawl 102, disengaging it from the recess 103 in the sleeve 24. By the arrangement illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, the householder may unlock the drawer and insert money into the same without the use of a key and access from the opposite side of the wall, i.e. exteriorly of the building, can be gained only through use of a key.

In the foregoing apparatus, the discs, sleeves and mounting plate may be of any suitable material, such as fiberboard, metal, plastic or the like and the disc may also be separated one from the other by spacer washers 80 or some other convenient insert. The cash drawer 50 may, if desired, slidably engage a seal 90 in the form of an O-ring retained in position by being seated in a groove in the sleeve 24. There may be a seal located at each of opposite ends of the sleeve or alternatively, only one which is located preferably adjacent the outside face of the wall. Rotation of the disc 25 may be restrained by a spring 125 resiliently biased to engage and bear frictionally against the outer peripheral rim of the disc. The disc also may have notches 126 appropriately positioned such that the spring projects into an appropriate one of the notches serving as an index to center the indicia in the aperture and restrain the discs from accidental displacement from the desired setting.

I claim:

1. A wall-mountable delivery service aid comprising in combination:

a. a mounting member;

b. a pair of concentrically disposed sleeves rotatably mounted in said mounting member and extending therethrough;

c. means on said mounting member and movable in response to rotation of respective ones of said sleeves visually to indicate on one face of said mounting plate required goods and/or services, such as diary products, dry-cleaning, laundry or the like;

d. means on said mounting member and operable from a face opposite to that on which the visual indicator is located to rotate the respective sleeves adjusting the visual indicator to indicate the goods and/or services required; and

e. a currency storage and transfer device including a currency storage compartment slidably mounted in the innermost one of said pair of concentric sleeves, said currency storage drawer being movable through said sleeve for access thereto respectively from one end of the sleeve and an end opposite thereto whereby currency may be placed in the compartment from one side of a wall on which said apparatus is mounted and removed from the opposite side of said wall.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim I wherein said means visually indicating goods required comprises a pair of discs connected to respective ones of said sleeves and disposed in overlying relationship with respect to one another, one being of greater diameter than the other and each disc including information at peripheral spaced locations thereon movable to underlie respective ones of a pair of designated indices.

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said pair of designated indices comprise viewing apertures.

4. A wall-mountable delivery service aid comprising in combination:

a. a mounting plate having a central aperture;

b. a pair of concentrically disposed sleeves rotatably mounted in said aperture and passing therethrough;

c. a disc mounted on opposed ends of each of said sleeves and having information thereon at selected radial spaced positions with one disc being of greater diameter than the other disc at each of opposite ends, rotation of a disc at one end effecting corresponding rotation of the disc at the other end and each visually indicating the same information at respective ones of selected positions disposed interiorly and exteriorly of the wall through which the sleeves pass;

d. a currency transfer device slidably mounted in the innermost sleeve and having a compartment movable from one side of the wall to the opposite side; and

e. means limiting sliding movement of said currency transfer device.

5. An apparatus as defined in claim 4 including a lock retaining the slidable drawer in the closed position.

6. An apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein said lock is operable from each of a pair of opposed ends of said currency transfer device.

a n n a t 

1. A wall-mountable delivery service aid comprising in combination: a. a mounting member; b. a pair of concentrically disposed sleeves rotatably mounted in said mounting member and extending therethrough; c. means on said mounting member and movable in response to rotation of respective ones of said sleeves visually to indicate on one face of said mounting plate required goods and/or services, such as diary products, dry-cleaning, laundry or the like; d. means on said mounting member and operable from a face opposite to that on which the visual indicator is located to rotate the respective sleeves adjusting the visual indicator to indicate the goods and/or services required; and e. a currency storage and transfer device including a currency storage compartment slidably mounted in the innermost one of said pair of concentric sleeves, said currency storage drawer being movable through said sleeve for access thereto respectively from one end of the sleeve and an end opposite thereto whereby currency may be placed in the compartment from one side of a wall on which said apparatus is mounted and removed from the opposite side of said wall.
 2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said means visually indicating goods required comprises a pair of discs connected to respective ones of said sleeves and disposed in overlying relationship with respect to one another, one being of greater diameter than the other and each disc including information at peripheral spaced locations thereon movable to underlie respective ones of a pair of designated indices.
 3. An apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said pair of designated indices comprise viewing apertures.
 4. A wall-mountable delivery service aid comprising in combination: a. a mounting plate having a central aperture; b. a pair of concentrically disposed sleeves rotatably mounted in said aperture and passing therethrough; c. a disc mounted on opposed ends of each of said sleeves and having information thereon at selected radial spaced positions with one disc being of greater diameter than the other disc at each of opposite ends, rotation of a disc at one end effecting corresponding rotation of the disc at the other end and each viSually indicating the same information at respective ones of selected positions disposed interiorly and exteriorly of the wall through which the sleeves pass; d. a currency transfer device slidably mounted in the innermost sleeve and having a compartment movable from one side of the wall to the opposite side; and e. means limiting sliding movement of said currency transfer device.
 5. An apparatus as defined in claim 4 including a lock retaining the slidable drawer in the closed position.
 6. An apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein said lock is operable from each of a pair of opposed ends of said currency transfer device. 